


shadows lurking everywhere (someone came and kissed me there)

by Cinnamonbookworm



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Flashbacks, Parallels, Relationship Firsts, laurel lance gift exchange 2015, mistletoe kisses, teenage!lauriver
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 03:31:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5523839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinnamonbookworm/pseuds/Cinnamonbookworm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>laurel's experiences with firsts throughout the holiday seasons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	shadows lurking everywhere (someone came and kissed me there)

**Author's Note:**

> look, i'm not a giant fan of lauriver, i'll be the first to admit that. but teenage them absolutely KILLS ME. and then the addition of blackvibe on top of that pretty much had me flailing around with feelings so i don't think this will be the first time i write them.  
> and i really had a lot of fun with it.

Laurel Lance meets Oliver Queen at a party when she’s twelve.

(Of course it’s at a party. Why wouldn’t it be at a party? He was famous for his parties, after all).

She thinks her friends are joking until they all show up at the door and Moira Queen answers and that’s around the time Laurel realizes it’s not a joke.

Nothing about this place is a joke.

The birthday cake made by that guy from that one television show, the children running around with crystal glasses in their hands, all dressed in some sort of STAR Wars costume.

No, the only thing that’s a joke are the words that are said when she reaches over to grab a Yoda-shaped cookie and the actual birthday boy himself comes up to her asking if he knows her from school.

He obviously doesn’t, of course, but he’s Oliver Queen and probably can’t be bothered to remember the names of all of his classmates. She’ll forgive him for not knowing she’s as far out of her depths here as any twelve year old girl can be. And so when she tells him she came with Grace Frankson (who’s suddenly completely invisible save for the giggling coming from behind the curtains) she’s surprised when he asks her if she wants to play Jedi with him and Tommy anyways.

Sure enough, the Luke Skywalker to his Han Solo comes up behind him, lightsaber in hand - once again, she’ll forgive him for not knowing Han doesn’t use a lightsaber because, you know, _Oliver Queen._ It’s only looking back on it later that she’ll realize they became a trinity in that moment, and not just because they were dressed like one.

Laurel won’t remember the names of the girls she went to the party with when she looks back on this. She’ll only remember the way she’d found her first real friends in a while.

 

***

 

Laurel Lance meets Cisco Ramon mostly by accident.

He just happens to be in the precinct when she’s there, and she’s heard a bit about him and his tech from Felicity so she takes advantage of the moment. What she’s not expecting is the reaction he gives her.

Laurel knows how to play it cool; she’s been doing it in the courtroom for years. She knows the ways to make it seem like she has all the answers when she has none. She knows how to make it seem like she’s some big bad vigilante when, in reality, only one person in Starling City has truly believed in her through this whole thing. (The same person who recommended Cisco to her, coincidentally).

But Cisco doesn’t need her to act. As soon as she says _Black Canary_ he’s all over it. All over _her_ , really. He recognizes her by a code name she’s only been going by for a few months. He appreciates her without even knowing all the work she’s put into becoming who she is, all the things she’s faced on her journey to get here. He-

“ _I love you_.”

He loves her.

It’s not a real thing, she knows that. It’s the kind of _I love you_ she sometimes says to the interns at the District Attorney’s office when she’s strung out and they bring her a coffee out of pity. It’s the kind of _I love you_ she sometimes gives to Felicity when she tells her there’s a robbery going on on 5th and Madison and _I can keep this on the down low for you if you want_.

It’s the kind of _I love you_ that doesn’t really mean anything.

And yet, here it is. Meaning absolutely everything to her.

Felicity may have been her first supporter, but Cisco’s her first fan. And he’s good with tech, too.

He corrects his statement, because _of course he does._ Of course no one’s _I love you_ has really been real after Tommy. But he does support her. He loves her work. This is a sort of professional congratulations. Like the time the District Attorney said _I love you_ to her after she won her first case with the office. He respects her. And she likes that.

And later, when he’s taking that _stupid_ photo with her, she tries really really hard not to smile. And then she tries really really hard not to blush when he’s got a measuring tape around her neck for measurements.

She likes Cisco Ramon, she decides; he’s a good guy.

 

***

 

The first time Laurel Lance thinks about kissing Oliver Queen, it’s the first day of Freshman year of highschool.

She’s been used to the teasing and the taunts for a while now, the questions about which of the two billionaire boys she’s dating. She’s especially used to the names that get whispered behind her back with the implication she’s dating _both of them_.

She knows how to deal with the girls.

She wasn’t prepared for the boys, though.

Laurel’s worked so so hard to get a scholarship into this school so she could be with Oliver and Tommy for four more years, has put herself through tremendous stress in studying for the exam that got her accepted, and she’s never thought before this moment that anyone would think she’d gotten in any other way.

But some senior guy does. She’ll wish later that she didn’t remember his name, that it wasn’t tattooed onto her brain, but she does. His name is Frank Bernard and he smells like Axe body spray and, when he gets up real close to her to ask her if she can do to him what she did to Oliver to get into this school, his breath smells like fish.

Laurel’s been taking self defense since long before she’d met Oliver Queen, but she’s honestly too shocked to do anything but stand there as he inches ever closer.

She refuses to shout because she’s trying to actually _make friends_ at this new school. _Girl friends._ Friends who aren’t Tommy and Oliver because they’re in highschool now and it’s not really socially acceptable for guys and girls to be friends anymore. It’s right as she’s about to sock this guy in the jaw that Oliver steps in.

He’s just as scared as she is; she can tell that. He may have all the money in the world on his side, but money doesn’t totally matter at this school and also this senior has arms the size of Laurel’s face. He steps in anyways. For her. Because he knows how much her reputation at this school means to her. He knows she’s insecure enough already without adding _bitch_ to her resume for the rest of her four years here.

He doesn’t do this because she can’t handle it, but because she doesn’t want to.

“Back off, Bernard.” he says. She’s slightly proud of him that his voice doesn’t shake a bit.

“Good thing you’re boyfriend’s here to rescue you.” Frank grumbles out. “Because if not…”

That’s right around the time Oliver punches him in the face.

Laurel mouths a quick _thank you_ to him.

And then it’s just them. They’re standing there together in the morning sunlight streaming into the common area, schoolbooks in hand, and he’s giving her that _let’s get into trouble_ smile that has gotten her grounded a few too many times. She’s had girls asking her if she’d kiss him for years now, but this is the first time she really feels it.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know.” she manages.

“And what? Risk my chance to beat up a senior? No way.”

He’s joking. They both know why he did it.

“Oliver Queen, troublemaker.” she titles him.

“Dinah Laurel Lance, newly crowned socialite.”

“You’re an idiot.”

She thinks, if she just stands on her tip toes a little bit then, their lips might touch.

But then the bell rings. Laurel doesn’t think she’s ever made it to class so quickly before.

 

***

 

The first time Laurel Lance thinks about kissing Cisco Ramon, he’s patching her up.

She’s in Central City, technically for a case, but she’d taken to doing some night prowling and some guy brought out a switchblade on her.

She doesn’t even realize how deep the cut is until she’s trying to make her way back to her hotel and she actually has to _limp_ and that’s around the time she just calls an Uber and has the driver drop her off at STAR Labs - minus black mask and jacket, of course. She still gets a weird look for the buckles on her pants, but she figures he’s seen weirder things from the people who live in this city.

Caitlin’s out. Cisco’s not. Whether or not Laurel actually ends up collapsing into Cisco’s arms about a minute after she walks in the door is debateable.

(He claims she did). (She doesn’t like to talk about it).

“Whoa, whoa there,” he says, and he’s a lot stronger than she’d thought he’d be.

She’s heavy, though. And she’s definitely putting a lot of weight on him. Her blonde hair gets in his eyes a bit and she’s surprised that he doesn’t comment on it.

He didn’t comment on her change from the wig the last time he saw her, either.

She wonders if maybe his fascination for the Black Canary has faded.

He was with Kendra the last time she checked though, wasn’t he? Maybe he’s moved onto prettier birds.

“Only pretty bird in my life right now is you.” Cisco tells her.

Laurel curses. Cisco laughs. Laurel curses again. She can’t take anything for the pain at the risk of addiction, so there’s a lot of cursing that happens while Cisco bends down and stitches her leg up.

She tries not to focus too hard on the fact that his mouth is a lot closer to her thigh than she’s comfortable with, but she’s seen Cisco work before - he gets up really close and personal with things he’s focusing on.

And she’s really glad he’s focusing on her stitches because she’s not like Oliver; she can’t just explain away scarring with mysterious island backstories. She’s still got to look semi-professional and not at all suspicious with her scars.

She doesn’t miss the way Cisco slips in a question about whether or not she’s single in his question about who exactly is going to be seeing a scar this high up on her thigh.

She wonders if he misses the way her eyes dart to the ground after that because he’s right: it’s not like anyone’s really going to be seeing it anytime soon. Not unless someone falls from the sky already in love with her.

Cisco stands up, and they’re a lot closer suddenly than she’d thought they were.

Or maybe she doesn’t need someone to fall from the sky. Maybe all she needs is right here. Right here in front of her looking like maybe she hung the stars and when he asks her “So how did you get this cut, Black Canary?” she thinks she could kiss him.

She thinks maybe it’d be worth it, too. And she can’t just be imagining the way neither of them can really look away right now. It would be so easy to just lean over and push herself off the table and wrap her legs around his waist.

But just as soon as that idea enters her head Cisco steps back and she thinks she should’ve known better. She can’t just take people for granted. Doesn’t she know she has to earn any semblance of happiness? Shouldn’t she have learned that at this point in her life?

Barry races in a little after that. Her and Cisco don’t look at each other much after that. She wonders if maybe he’s ashamed of it. Maybe he realized, just like everyone else has, that she’s not really worth it.

Cisco indirects her on Twitter later as “Pretty Bird” though, so maybe it’s not as much of a lost cause as she’d thought it was.

 

***

 

The first time Laurel Lance kisses Oliver Queen, it’s at another party. The party he throws at the end of their winter finals her Sophomore year.

The thing is she’s pissed; she’s more than pissed, because Sara just had to crash this party, the one she _knew_ meant so much to her, and Laurel may be pretty and Sara may be younger, but Sara can get any guy at this party that she wants.

And she’s _too young_ for any guy at this party. And she’s especially too young for Oliver Queen. And Sara, despite her _stupid_ crush on Laurel’s best friend, _knows_ about Laurel’s feelings for him.

She’s here anyways.

Laurel’s angry. And when she gets angry she gets reckless.

She looks over to Oliver. Some girl whose name she hasn’t really bothered to learn is not-so-sneakily pushing him towards the mistletoe and something tugs her in her gut. Something she’s never really felt before. It’s not fair and she knows it; Oliver’s not _hers_ \- she’s made sure of that, determined to try and prove the rumors wrong, determined to not fall into the myth that guys and girls can’t just be friends.

But she doesn’t want to be _just friends_.

She wants so much more than that.

So when she struts over to where the mistletoe is and promptly slightly steers Oliver _away_ from said mistletoe it’s not just because she’s looking out for a friend. She can admit it now. She doesn’t want anyone else with him because _she_ wants to be with him.

“You know,” she tells him, definitely lying, “Jenna over there bet me a hot chocolate that you wouldn’t kiss me.”

“And why is that?” he asks, and his eyes spell trouble and she wants to get lost in them.

“I don’t know. Guess they know if you ever tried anything I’d beat the crap out of you.”

“You would,” he admits, a little too readily. His hand stretches up to rub the back of his neck.

“Still, I really want that hot chocolate.”

“Wait… you’re serious?”

“What? It’s not like you haven’t already kissed someone…”

Oliver’s eyes dart to the floor and he looks really far past her. He only ever does that when he’s-

_He’s lying._

“But you told Tommy… You lied to Tommy didn’t you?”

“Maybe…?”

“Well, in that case,” she starts, taking a deep breath and bringing her hands up to his shoulders, “we’re going to have to make sure there are no lies between you and Tommy.”

“Wha-”

And then she’s kissing him, having yanked him forward by the collar of his red flannel and she’ll spend the next few nights listening to the Christmas carol playing in the background.

Oliver doesn’t really kiss back but that’s really okay because the entire party has stopped and is looking at them.

When they pull apart Laurel hides her face in his shoulder as someone whistles. She doesn’t check to see Sara’s face. She doesn’t need to know.

 

***

 

The first time Laurel Lance kisses Cisco Ramon she finds herself under familiar circumstances.

When Thea accidentally shoves her and she ends up under a mistletoe that Caitlin’s hung all over the West House, Laurel’s not really expecting anything to happen.

But then Cisco walks over and, well, she’s not quite sure what to think.

“Hey, Pretty Bird.” he says, and the light from the star atop the tree starts reflecting off the sequins on his Christmas sweater, creating a kind of disco-ball effect.

She stifles a groan. “Are you ever going to let that go?”

Cisco smiles. “Not a chance.”

They stand there for a few moments, and Laurel tries really hard not to let the most prominent memory of mistletoe cloud her mind. She doesn’t really like this tradition anymore; it’s been too long and what once was a really sweet moment now just makes her a bit sad.

“So…. mistletoe…” he starts.

Laurel tries to smile a bit for his sake but it doesn’t really come out. “Sorry, I just… bad memories.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay it’s… it’s long gone now. Just…”

“Hey, it’s not like anyone’s forcing us to kiss.”

“No, I want to- I mean…”

He smirks. “You want to?”

She looks up, examines the mistletoe, and then looks back down at Cisco. “I mean…”

“Wait, wait, wait. So, am I getting this straight? Laurel Lance, the completely _badass_ Black Canary, wants to kiss _me_ under the mistletoe.”

“It’s not _that big_ of a deal… I mean, it’s just a tradition, right?”

He swallows. “Right. Just a tradition. Doesn’t mean anything.”

She didn’t mean it _like that_ , but it’s too late to take it back because he’s placed his hands on her face and is slowly pulling her close, tentatively, almost like he’s shy to kiss her. Which, she figures, he probably is.

Their lips barely even touch, it’s just a breath, but it means everything to her.

She doesn’t think she’s liked the smell of mistletoe more.

And then he steps away. And she suddenly feels like running. Everything she’s ever wanted is on the table and it absolutely terrifies her.

“So that was something…” she prompts, wondering if maybe he’s feeling just as breathless as she is just from their lips brushing.

“Yeah..” he says, but his eyes are kind of glazed over and this time he’s really looking at her like she’s hung the stars in the sky.

She makes a decision then. It’s the same one she made years ago, but she doesn’t do it because it’s tradition; she does it because she wants to.

She really wants to.

And when she kisses Cisco, he kisses her back.

 


End file.
